4 middle weeks

So, Honey (my aunt) arrives tonight and we leave for Kruger just a few short hours later!  Just realizing that it’s been about a month since my last update!  The middle 4 weeks of the CCS program has just flown by and I anticipate the remaining 4 weeks to do the same.

At the end of last week, I met with my supervisor to review my accomplishments so far this summer and lay out my plans for the remaining weeks.  Highlights include: assessing, revising, and piloting a survey that Cross Cultural Solutions administers to all volunteers to assess the impact of the experience on the volunteer's personal growth and development; designing, piloting, and revising two volunteer reflection meetings including an "effective volunteer" and "identity" workshop; helping to design and facilitate a meeting with all of Cross Cultural Solution's partner CBOs about strengthening the partnership; getting to know 3 (soon to be 4) different groups of volunteers; facilitating a support at a nearby high school; visiting interesting museums like the District 6 Museum and the Slave Lodge; attending several informative documentaries in the South African Documentary Film Festival; hiking Table Mountain and Lion's Head (3 times); and, of course, visiting the penguin colony! 

My role as a CCS volunteer intern continues to bring new surprises as I’m faced with additional tasks that build on my skills as a social work student.  I’ve written more reports this summer than I have ever done before—documenting everything I do so that anyone would be able to repeat the things I’ve done or pick up where I left off.  I’ve also developed and implemented interactive programs for volunteers, partner organizations, and teens at a local high school—the process of documenting why I choose each activity or discussion topic then reflecting on how each activity goes and making recommendations for the future has really helped me understand the concept of best-practices and is certainly giving me much needed experience for my future.  I was even asked to create community profiles for each of the areas where we work!

Other things that have happened since the last update include the Partner Program Workshop, 3 sessions of the teen program at Oval North, my first and second visits to Mama Africa, the entirety of Encounters: South African Documentary Film Festival, a job interview and denial, a workshop on identity, Youth Day, a new group arrived, World Refugee Day, World Music Day, my first rugby match, a trip to Stellenbosch, a third attempt to visit Robben Island, and two Center for Conflict Resolution book releases/lectures.

Let’s break that down a little…

Partner Program Workshop:  This was one of the central aspects of my volunteer experience.  With CCS Staff, I helped to develop the agenda to make the workshop with CCS partner organizations (where they send volunteers) interactive and effective.  We used the symbol of a tree throughout the day to represent the foundation of the CCS/Partner relationship (the roots), actions and characteristics that maintain a strong partnership (the trunk), and the reach of the impact (the branches representing the reach and the fruit representing the impact).  It was exciting for me because I got the opportunity to meet leaders from 10+ organizations around Cape Town and hear their perspectives on working with international volunteers.

3 sessions of the teen program at Oval North: As a typical social work experience, nothing went as planned.  I developed lesson plans that I hoped would get the group comfortable and chatting then ready to take action.  It was good to be prepared and the three sessions we did have went really well but different people attended the sessions so there was little room for continuity and the attendance dwindled off as holiday break began (it’s mid-winter holiday until July 16^th).  Either way, it was great practice for me to develop and attempt to implement a group plan.  It was also valuable for me to meet learners from Mitchell’s Plain and learn about their experiences growing up and plans for the future.  I plan to pick up where we left off during the first week of school and attempt to create a transition plan so that this group may continue in the future, if desired.

My first and second visits to Mama Africa: I honestly wasn’t planning to visit Mama Africa while I was here in Cape Town.  http://www.mamaafricarestaurant.co.za/en/  It’s one of the obvious stops for tourists on Long Street where you can indulge in a platter of kudu, springbok, crocodile, and ostrich with a side of warthog if you so wish.   Clearly meant to “look like Africa,” the place does serve some authentic vegetarian dishes as well.  The experience turned out to be fun and the staff are refreshingly incredible at making you feel comfortable and cared for throughout the entire dining experience.

The entirety of Encounters: South African Documentary Film Festival: This was a surprising highlight to my time in South Africa.  As a fan of documentaries, when I heard about this, I headed right to the movie theatre to get a frequent movie-goers card because I knew I’d want to attend many of the screenings.  In the end, I attended 5 film screenings (of 100+ screenings of 30+ films) and enjoyed each of them.

iThemba was an Al Jazeera film about a group of youth who talked about their experiences living with disabilities in Zimbabwe then had the opportunity to travel as a band to perform around the United States.  It had some interesting political commentary about the economic situation in Zimbabwe of which I had no idea…here’s the conversion (it’s okay, you can laugh…then go read about it!): 1.00 USD = 92,233,720,368,547,760.00 ZWD; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation_in_Zimbabwe; http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703730804576314953091790360.html

Libya-Through the Fire was an Al Jazeera documentary about a man at the center of social networking throughout the Libyan revolution.  It provided a focused, on the ground view of the revolution and demonstrated the energy that went into making the news known to the world.

The Sunny Side of Sex followed a Dutch woman to Uganda to talk with frank African women about sex.  It’s quite socially acceptable to discuss the process and anatomy and to practice with aunties (paternal aunt). In fact, there are even commercial aunties for hire if you don’t have your own.  Men can have their own lessons, too!

The Cut was about female circumcision.  Painful to watch, it was actually difficult to follow but the point was clear—FGM is painful, many girls don’t want to do it, it’s performed at a very young age, and it’s very ritualistic.  It showed a packed safe house where girls can run away to leading up to the date of the ritual…unfortunately, they still have to go home afterward and face their families and the social pressure.

The final film was A Common Purpose about the Upington 25, a group of black men who were collectively charged in 1985 with murdering a black police officer.  They were charged together because of the “Common Purpose Law” which allowed large groups to be charged with the same crime because they were all there for the same intent, regardless of who made the assault or the death blow.  The film follows the lawyer who was on their case and jumps back and forth between actual footage and photos from 1985 to interview updates with the accused.  The interesting thing about this one was the Q & A to follow with the film’s producer and the lawyer in the film.

A job interview and denial: The position I’m studying social work for at the Ginsberg Center for Service-Learning opened up this spring and I applied as soon as I found out.  The position was for Coordinator of Co-Curricular Service Learning—in short—working with student groups to make the most of a service learning experience and contributing to the overall progress of the Ginsberg Center.  It was a long-shot to apply, however because I don’t graduate until December and they would certainly need someone to start ASAP to be fully functional throughout the school year.  Unfortunately, it’s not quite my time yet to become a Ginsberg staff member but I’ll keep trying and stay involved in the meantime as I have been for several years!  I’m also looking forward to filling up my schedule with interesting classes for my final semester then spending some time in Guatemala volunteering with CasaSito again and (“hopefully”) beginning some research on the best-practices and impact of student groups serving with Guatemalan NGOs and communities.

A workshop on identity: Just as it sounds. I integrated identity reflection activities into an “Imbizo” (gathering) where volunteers and staff spoke about their experiences with their identities and interactions with others.  This related to how international volunteers enter and experience African culture, how staff receive and interact with volunteers, how South Africans overcome engrained prejudices leftover from the Apartheid era, and how volunteers relate their experience entering a new culture and interacting with new identities to their own countries and home communities. 

Youth Day: South African celebrates Youth Day to commemorate the 1976 youth uprisings when youth in cities and townships throughout South Africa spoke out against forced Afrikaans language in schools and many were shot, abused, or tortured in jail for their views.  To celebrate, I attended a panel discussion on the role of white youth in the struggle.  It was an interesting and inspiring conversation to witness and empowering to see a church-full of youth gathered together to ask, “what now”?

A new group arrived: I have really been enjoying this new group though their first two weeks have gone by so fast!  Most of them seem thrilled to be here, learning about South Africa and helping at their placements.  Not looking forward to their departure.

World Refugee Day: Another day to recognize suffering, World Refugee Day was celebrated with a big event at Scalabrini Centre with music, movies, art, and a “Peace Tree.”  The event was organized by Scalabrini volunteers and well-attended by the public.  After the event, we stumbled upon a bookshop around the corner that was hosting a book release about refugee women and their stories.  That was a lucky find…the presentation was interesting and the discussion afterward was even more enlightening.  We spoke with a girl from Burundi who is looking forward to studying social work but cannot get scholarships to study because she is not a South African citizen and the current situation for refugees is one of transition and uncertainty.

World Music Day: This was bound to be a cool day—apparently on this day every year, venues around the world put on La Fete de La Musique, providing free music performances in obscure locations throughout the day.  Excited to visit a music venue on Long Street that I had yet to visit, we planned to go there after Mama Africa. Upon arrival, the staff had no clue what I was talking about when I said we were there for World Music Day celebrations.   Apparently, the Cape Town event organizers cancelled the morning of and had never actually informed the venues that they’d planned to host bands there…

My first rugby match: And Baby Boks won!!!  Just our luck, we bought tickets (for $3) for the championship game! Not only did I learn rugby, I got to experience a full stadium and see South Africa win against the favored “All Blacks” (New Zealand).  This was the under 20 league but it was still well attended and they were supported just as if they were the adult team!

A trip to Stellenbosch: Was less incredible than anticipated.  We visited a touristy wine estate—though I didn’t care about the wine, I was excited to learn about the history of the estate and I didn’t really get a lot of that.  Instead I walked around with headphones on listening to a fictional story about a slave woman who was about to be freed—we learned at the end of the walk (not even from the recording) that she drown in the river two years before freedom…hmm.  Anyway, the estate is also known for it’s sustainability initiatives so it was a good surprise to see some signs about that.  The city of Stellenbosch was like a ghost town the day we went because, built around Stellenbosch University, it was the start of winter holiday and all of the students were away.  It was nice to walk around and look at the old buildings, though…and to get out of Cape Town for the first time since I arrived!

A third attempt to visit Robben Island: While waiting in line to board the ferry, our group was approached by an American woman who explained that she and her husband brought her father and stepmother to South Africa for her dad’s 70^th birthday but she wasn’t able to get Robben Island tickets (her bad travel agent told her she didn’t need to book in advance…fired).  Four of us happily sold her our tickets and went right up to the ticket counter to buy four more for two weeks later.  We’ll try again next week!

Two Center for Conflict Resolution book releases/lectures: The Center for Conflict Resolution is a very left-thinking South African think tank that hosts lectures, book releases, and other events.  I was lucky enough to have two happen in one week—the first about white exiles organizing in London and being central to the Apartheid struggle and the second about a comparison of Mandela and Mbeki who were both post-Apartheid presidents but viewed by society in very different lights.  The first lecture, a panel, was much more interesting and engaging than the second but both had some feisty Q & As that helped me think a little deeper and question global affairs.

Anyway, I realized today that, the way the CCS program works, my final meeting is THIS THURSDAY because I will already be gone when the next group has their final week!  It’s time to start reflecting on what this experience has meant and wrapping things up—good thing I started doing that here!

Off to Kruger National Park for a 4-day safari adventure!